


The Dress

by helsinkibaby



Series: something about the way you look [2]
Category: NCIS: Los Angeles
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Relationship - Freeform, Community: 1-million-words, F/M, Fluff, Het, Romance, Undercover Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 19:02:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29705145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Nell and Callen go undercover.
Relationships: G Callen/Nell Jones
Series: something about the way you look [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2210235
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19
Collections: 1 Million Words' Weekend Challenge





	The Dress

**Author's Note:**

> For the one million words Mae West weekend challenge. 
> 
> Set in the same ‘verse as “The Hoodie” , and set mid-late season 6, I think?

“Hetty, I’m really not sure about this...”

Nell chews her lip as she looks at herself in the mirror - and is it really her? Because it doesn’t look like her. Hetty appears at her side and she promptly releases her lip because she realises she’s about to wreck her lipstick - a vibrant shade of scarlet, very not Nell - and she really doesn’t want Hetty to have to reapply her makeup. Not when the older woman has already gone at her face with a heavy hand, resulting in contoured cheeks and dramatic smokey eyes to compliment the red lips. 

It’s more makeup than Nell has ever worn in her life. Perhaps cumulatively. 

“Nonsense, my dear.” Probably sensing her reticence - it wouldn’t be especially hard - Hetty’s tone is warm. “One can afford to go a little bold when one has a dress as simple as this.” 

“Simple.” It’s not the first word that comes to Nell’s mind. When Hetty had said “little black dress,” Nell hadn’t envisioned anything like this, a genuine Tom Ford one shouldered creation that nipped in at the waist, clung to her like a second skin everywhere else and ended just above the knee. Nell is fairly sure that it cost more than her first car and as if that’s not enough, the bracelet that glimmers on her bare arm probably costs more than a year’s rent. Sky high heels (and Nell’s sure she caught a flash of a red sole, is too afraid to look to find out) and her hair twisted up in an elegant knot and she looks nothing like Nell Jones. 

Which, since she’s going undercover at a black tie gala, where she will be meeting an arms dealer and proving her hacker bona fides, might just be a good thing. 

“Why yes... your alter ego likes the finer things in life, as does Mr Callen’s. It makes perfect sense that you would dress like this.” 

“I guess I just thought when I was going undercover that I’d be a little bit ... less conspicuous.” 

Hetty actually laughs. “We want them to notice you...as Mae West once said, it’s better to be looked over than overlooked... and the tales I could tell you about her...” She chuckles again, waves her hands as Nell stares at her, goggle eyed. “Come now, let’s get this show on the road...” 

“Hetty...” Nell knows she sounds doubtful. “Are you sure I’m ready for this?” 

The older woman looks her dead in the eye. “I wouldn’t send you out there if you weren’t,” she promises. “And with Mr Callen at your side, you’re in safe hands. Follow his lead.” 

Nell’s heart stutters for a second, because that sounds an awful lot like Hetty knows something that Nell and Callen are working very hard to make sure that she _doesn’t_ know. But then again, this is Hetty they’re dealing with and they both know that nothing goes on here without her knowledge. So that sentence suddenly takes on another layer of meaning, one that Nell has to push away because she has a job to do. So she nods, steels herself for that. “Okay. I’m ready.” 

With a grin and a flourish, Hetty pulls back the curtain and Nell finds herself facing her team and their reactions. Kensi wears a large grin as Deeks lets out a wolf whistle, while Eric’s jaw just drops. Sam inclines his head in wordless appreciation and Callen... well, Callen just adjusts his cufflinks and looks her up and down, his expression never changing. 

“You gonna be able to run in those heels if things go south?” he asks but there’s a curve to his lips and a glint to his eyes that lets her know he’s joking. 

Still, she’s not when her mouth twists in a rueful smile. “I doubt it.” 

“Just make sure there are no Cinderella moments, Miss Jones.” Hetty isn’t joking either and Nell’s kinda relieved when Callen offers her his arm and they walk out to the car together. 

It’s a short enough drive to where they are going and Nell spends most of the time going over the plan in her head. They’re halfway there when Callen breaks the silence. “Relax... you’ve got this.” 

“Easy for you to say.” She shoots him a quick grin. “You’re used to this kind of thing.” 

“And it’s always been fine.” Except that she’s been in Ops the times when things have gone south, and there’s the little matter of the five bullets from before her time too. They both know how fast things can go south. 

“You usually have Sam covering your back,” she points out and she gets a full on smirk in response. 

“Sam wouldn’t look half as good in that dress,” he retorts. Her lips twitch and his eyes meet her in the dim light. They pull up at a red light at that exact moment and his hand reaches out, closes over her knee. “Or those heels.” 

There’s something different in his eyes now, something that wasn’t there when they were in front of the entire team, something warm and just for her. It’s a new look, but one she’s slowly getting used to. One she definitely likes. 

But they are on the clock and she’s not going there. She’s just grateful they don’t hsve their earwigs in yet. Then again, if they did, Callen wouldn't be saying that. 

“I’m picturing that now,” she says, mock thoughtfully and Callen laughs, a touch regretfully she thinks. 

“Me too.” His fingers tighten on her knee for just a moment, then the light turns green and he puts the car into drive. “You’re definitely prettier.” 

She thinks about threatening to tell Sam on him, then decides that they’ve talked enough about Sam for the moment. “I thought you liked me in your hoodie.” 

He doesn’t take his eyes off the road but his lips quirk up in a grin that’s starting to become quite familiar. “Get you a girl who can do both, isn’t that what they say?”

It’s a light quip but there’s a weight to the words too, a weight that speeds up Nell’s heart rate, that sends her mouth dry and her palms sweaty. It also makes her blush, makes her look away from him and out the window, which is how she realises they’re almost at their destination and she needs to get her head in the game. 

It’s easier to do that than she might have thought, but most of what she does is exactly what Hetty told her to do, mainly stick close to Callen and follow his lead. He introduces her as his genius hacker, she passes her audition with flying colours and they set up a meet for the day after next, one that Nell fervently hopes won’t be taking place at a black tie event because these shoes are starting to kill her feet. 

It’s a relief when Callen leads her back to the car, even more of a relief when Hetty’s voice in their ears tells them that they are done for the night and she’ll see them in the morning. 

A smirk on his face that could be seen from space, Callen drives them back to Nell’s place. 

She expects to at least get inside the front door, and she does, just about. But then Callen’s hands are on her waist and he’s turning her around, pressing her back against the front door and looking at her like she’s the most amazing thing he’s ever seen. 

It really is quite something. 

“Have I told you,” he asks her, his palms skating on her sides, “how amazing you look? I mean...” One finger traces the neckline of the dress and she shivers. “You’re always beautiful. But this...” 

And the thing is, Nell knows he thinks she’s beautiful. But she knows she works with, and LA is full of, women who look like Kensi - tall, slender, athletic - and she does not look anything like that. She’s never been the kind of woman that men swoon over, and she’s okay with that. 

But being wanted by G Callen? Who looks at her like he actually could swoon over her at any minute? 

She’s a modern woman, okay. But that’s a hell of a turn on. 

“It takes it up a notch, is all I’m saying,” he concludes and she supposes that’s fair enough. After all, she feels the same about him in a tux. 

“Be that as it may, these shoes are coming off,” she warns him and one hand comes to rest on her knee, warm and gentle, as warm and gentle as his voice when he speaks. 

“And there I was hoping you’d leave them on.” As he speaks, his hand slides up, under the hem of her dress. Only a little, then it stills, and he lifts one eyebrow, almost in question. 

She holds his gaze for a long moment. “G...” She draws out the syllable. “What are you doing?”

“If you have to ask, I’m not doing a very good job.” His hand moves a little higher. She’s hard pressed not to gasp at the sensation. “You know that’s a really great outfit, right?” 

“Says the man in a tux.” That comes out a little more breathless than she mean it to, but it’s true. The man can wear a tux. The breathlessness can also be blamed on the fact that his hand has now reached the top of her thighs, the tips of his fingers lightly moving across the sensitive skin there and she thanks all the lucky stars she’s never believed in that Callen had the forethought to take out their earwigs and stow them in their box, then stash that in the glove box, where it remains. “Callen...” It’s a warning and his hand stops moving. Which makes her whimper involuntarily, which makes him smirk. “We cannot do anything with this dress. Hetty will kill me-”

She stops talking when his lips land on hers, kissing her with an intent that she knows is going to wreck her lipstick entirely. She kisses him back and decides she doesn’t care. 

“Don’t worry,” Callen whispers, placing open mouthed kisses along her neck. “I promise I’ll be careful.” 

Well, Nell thinks, Hetty did tell her to follow Callen’s lead. 

Who is she to argue? 


End file.
